Electric toothpaste dispenser



April 30, 1963 H. E. NOLIN ELECTRIC TOOTHPASTE DISPENSER 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed April 3, 1961- INVENTOR. HARMON E. NOLIN April 30, 1963 H. E.NOLIN 3,

ELECTRIC TOOTHPASTEIDISPENSER Filed April 3. 1961 2 Shasta-Sheet 2 INVEN TOR.

United States Patent O i 3,087,653 ELECTRIC TOOTHPASTE DISPENSER HarmonE. Nolin, Hot Creek Hatchery, Bishop, Calif. Filed Apr. 3, 1961, Ser.No. 100,379 3 Claims. (Cl. 222--93) This invention relates generally todispensing apparatus, and more specifically to a device forautomatically dispensing tooth paste.

It is a primary object of this invention to provide a wall mountedapparatus for the purpose of storing toiletry needs and incorporatingelectrically operated means for dispensing toothpaste.

Another object of the invention is directed to the provision of aremovable and rotatable soap tray mounted beneath the tooth pastedispenser for the convenient display of a choice of toilet soaps.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide an attractive wallmounted unit which conveniently couceals and protects the necessaryutilities required for washing and particularly for cleaning the teeth,said unit being convenient and efficient in operation, and providingnovel appeal and utility to the modern bathroom.

Briefly, my invention comprises the provision of a casing which ismounted in the vertical face of a wall. The upper central portion of thecasing houses an electrically operated tooth paste dispenser whichdispenses tooth paste in response to the rotation of a worm drive.Disposed beneath the dispenser is a hemi-spherical soap holder which ismounted for rotation on a vertical axis. Compartments to the left andright of the soap holder provides storage for a drinking glass and toothbrushes respectively.

A full understanding of the construction of this invention, togetherwith further novel features and advantages, will be had from therfollowing detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, takenin conjunction with the attached drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the complete casing which incorporatesthe tooth paste dispenser and comprises my invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross sectional side elevation taken along the line 2-2 ofFIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional side elevation taken along theline 3-3 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary cross sectional plan view taken along the line4-4 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional plan view taken along the line 5-5 of FIG.2.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional front elevation taken along theline 66 of FIG. #2.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral views in the drawing.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, and more particularly to FIGS.1 and 2, the numeral 10 represents the vertical face of a wallcustomarily disposed above a wash basin. A tooth paste dispenser 11 isgenerally rectangular in cross section and has a front panel 12 suitablyhinged along one edge at 113 to the side of the dispenser. Mountedwithin the dispenser 11 is a cylindrical sleeve 14 having a circularopening 15 formed in the upper end and a downwardly extending cone 16 atthe lower end which terminates with an opening 17. A large collapsibletube 18 which contains tooth paste is received in the sleeve and isprovided with a necked orifice 19 for positioning in the opening 17. Theupper portion of the sleeve 14 is surrounded by a sleeve 20 having aclosed end 21. The lower end of the sleeve 20 has inwardly extendinglugs 22 which selectively lock beneath similarly spaced lugs 23projecting radially from a lower portion of the sleeve. A compressionspring 24 is disposed between 3,087,653 Patented Apr. 30, 1963 the upperend 21 of the sleeve and the collapsible tube 18 so as to urge the toothpaste -25 outwardly through the orifice 19. "Disposed diametrically andhorizontally beneath the opening 17 in the sleeve 14 is a cylinder 26. Ascrew conveyor 27 having a spirally mounted flange 28 thereon is adaptedto embrace the inner periphery of the cylinder 26 and rotatetherewithin. One end of the cylinder terminates with a dispensing tube29 which projects outwardly through the r'ront panel 12 of thedispenser. The screw conveyor 27 is driven by gears 30 and 31 by meansof a small electric motor 32 disposed beneath the cylinder.

The operation of the dispenser is as follows. A push button switch 33 ispressed. Such movement pushes an arm 34 inwardly which connects througha linkage 35 to open a small closure cap 36 disposed at the opening ofthe dispensing tube 29. An electrical contact switch 37 is closedcausing the motor 32 to operate through connecting leads 38. The gears30 and 31 cooperate to cause the screw conveyor to rotate and force thetooth paste 25 outwardly through the uncovered tube 29. A small brakedrum 39 is mounted concentrically with the screw conveyor 27 andcooperates with a spring biased brake band 40 which looks the drum 39when the motor 32 is off. A small solenoid 41, as shown in FIG. 6, isactuated in parallel with the motor through wires 42 and is adapted torelease the brake band 40 upon actuation of the motor. Immediately whenthe push button is released, the motor becomes inactive and the brake issimultaneously applied to stop the rotation of the screw conveyor. Avertical slot 43 is formed in the panel 12 and is lined with glass 44such that visual inspection of the collapsible tube 18 can be madethrough aligned slots 45 and 46 formed in the sleeve 20 and sleeve 14respectively.

Disposed vertically beneath the dispenser 11 is a recess 47 having asemi-circular vertical wall 48 surrounding a flat base 49. The recess 47removeably mounts a rotatable hemispherical soap dish 50. The dish 50 ismounted concentrically to one end of a vertical tube 51. Each end of thetube 51 is closed by a ball bearing 52 which is urged to projectoutwardly of the end by a compression spring 53 seated on a platform 54inwardly spaced from the ends of the tube 51. Small bearing pads 55 aresecured in the top 56 and the base 49 of the recess 47 and havedepressions 57 formed therein to receive the projecting ends of thebearings 52. It will be appreciated that the dish 50 may be simplyremoved for cleaning purposes and further, there is ample space for thedisplay of at least three types of toilet soap, each easily reached byrotation of the dish about the bearings 52.

To each side of the recess 47 there is formed a rectangular opening 58.The openings mount the lower edge of a hinged panel 60 tr'or pivotalmovement in a vertical plane as indicated by the arrow 61. The top ofthe panel is provided with a small knob 62 for operating the panel; anda container 66 having a rear Wall 63 and side walls 64 is securely:fastened to the inner side of the panel. The top edge of the side walls64 are curved as at 65 so as to freely slide into the openings 58. Oneof the containers 66 provides storage for a drinking glass 67 and theother container is utilized for the storage of tooth brushes such as 68.

The complete casing or assembly may be secured to the wall in anydesired manner, but I have shown a .preferred method seen best in FIG.4. The sides 69 of the openings 58 are faced with a front flange plate70 adapted to abut with the face 10 of the wall in an overlappingrelationship. Mounted outwardly of the sides 69 are V- shaped springclips 7-1 suitably secured thereto by small cleats 72. Upon insertioninto the wall opening, the spring clips spring open such that the freearm 73 thereof projects beyond and inwardly of the opening, ing thewithdrawal of the assembly.

From the foregoing, it is believed that the construction, operation andadvantages of this invention will be fully apparent. However, sincenumerous modifications will occur to those skilled in the art, it is notdesired to limit the construction exactly to that shown and described,and accordingly, modifications and equivalents may be resorted to,falling within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An electrically operated tooth paste dispenser having a cabinet ofrectangular cross-section, a cylindrical sleeve mounted verticallywithin the cabinet, said sleeve being open at the upper end and having anecked down opening at the lower end, a collapsible tube of tooth pastedisposed in said sleeve, a second sleeve slideably engaging over thefirst mentioned sleeve and having a closed top and lugs at its lower endto support said first sleeve, a compression spring mounted between theclosed top of said second sleeve and the tube of tooth paste in saidfirst sleeve, a cylinder horizontally mounted beneath the firstmentioned sleeve and communicating 'with the necked down openingthereof, said cylinder rotatably mounting a screw conveyor therein forpropelling tooth paste outwardly of one end of the cylinder, said oneend terminating with a dispensing tube projecting outwardly through thefront of the cabinet, electric means for selectively rotating said screwconveyor, said cabinet being extended beneath the said paste dispensingtube, a rotatable soap dish mounted in the extended portion of thecabinet and said cabinet thus preventhaving compartments at each side ofsaid extended portion for a drinking glass and tooth brushes, andaligned slots formed in said first and second sleeves and the front wallof the dispenser to permit inspection of the level of said tube of toothpaste disposed therein.

2. An electrically operated tooth paste dispenser according to claim 1,wherein the electric means is an electric motor and said screw conveyorhas a brake drum with a surrounding brake band operated by an electricsolenoid to stop the screw conveyor when the electric motor isdeenergized and to release the screw conveyor for rotation when theelectric motor is energized.

3. An electrically operated tooth paste dispenser according to claim 1,wherein said rotatable soap dish comprises an inverted hemi-sphericalmember, a vertical tube upstanding from the centre of said member andprojecting therethrough, ball bearings mounted in each end of the tube,compression springs disposed inwardly of the tube for urging thebearings outwardly thereof, bearing pads disposed in the top and bottomof the extended portion of the dispenser to receive the outwardlyprotruding ball bearings and permit the soap dish to freely rotate on avertical axis.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS469,842 Thompson Mar. 1, 1892 1,470,534 Keiper Oct. 9, 1923 2,484,193Starbeck Oct. 11, 1949 2,563,733 Meczelski Aug. 7, 1951 2,908,425 DcnsonOct. 13, 1959

1. AN ELECTRICALLY OPERATED TOOTH PASTE DISPENSER HAVING A CABINET OFRECTANGULAR CROSS-SECTION, A CYLINDRICAL SLEEVE MOUNTED VERTICALLYWITHIN THE CABINET, SAID SLEEVE BEING OPEN AT THE UPPER END AND HAVING ANECKED DOWN OPENING AT THE LOWER END, A COLLAPSIBLE TUBE OF TOOTH PASTEDISPOSED IN SAID SLEEVE, A SECOND SLEEVE SLIDEABLY ENGAGING OVER THEFIRST MENTIONED SLEEVE AND HAVING A CLOSED TOP AND LUGS AT ITS LOWER ENDTO SUPPORT SAID FIRST SLEEVE, A COMPRESSION SPRING MOUNTED BETWEEN THECLOSED TOP OF SAID SECOND SLEEVE AND THE TUBE OF TOOTH PASTE IN SAIDFIRST SLEEVE, A CYLINDER HORIZONTALLY MOUNTED BENEATH THE FIRSTMENTIONED SLEEVE AND COMMUNICATING WITH THE NECKED DOWN OPENING THEREOF,SAID CYLINDER ROTATABLY MOUNTING A SCREW CONVEYOR THEREIN FOR PROPELLINGTOOTH PASTE OUTWARDLY OF ONE END OF THE CYLINDER, SAID ONE ENDTERMINATING WITH A DISPENSING TUBE PROJECTING OUTWARDLY THROUGH THEFRONT OF THE CABINET, ELECTRIC MEANS FOR SELECTIVELY ROTATING SAID SCREWCONVEYOR, SAID CABINET BEING EXTENDED BENEATH THE SAID PASTE DISPENSINGTUBE, A ROTATABLE SOAP DISH MOUNTED IN THE EXTENDED PORTION OF THECABINET AND SAID CABINET HAVING COMPARTMENTS AT EACH SIDE OF SAIDEXTENDED PORTION FOR A DRINKING GLASS AND TOOTH BRUSHES, AND ALIGNEDSLOTS FORMED IN SAID FIRST AND SECOND SLEEVES AND THE FRONT WALL OF THEDISPENSER TO PERMIT INSPECTION OF THE LEVEL OF SAID TUBE OF TOOTH PASTEDISPOSED THEREIN.